Good Demons
by Tillian
Summary: 9:37 Dragon. Mages and Templars taking arms against each other. Meanwhile, a mage and a demon were not happy. Now their goal is to try to convince the both of them to go home, before they accidentally burn down too many farms and spoil the tea. Post DA2.


_Everything belongs to BioWare and the only thing I could claim is some of my original characters. Even then, I'm skirting along the lines of their copyright. I know, this note is pointless, but I rather play it safe than have their lawyers knocking on my front door the next morning. That would cost me like... I don't know, one million dollars and a couple cups of tea. They are good ones too._

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><p><em>Ten years ago...<em>

It wasn't a dark, stormy night at the time.

No. In fact it was a forbiddingly hot summer night, over in the outskirts of the Free Marches. It wouldn't have made sense if it was raining at that time of the year. A better indication of the weather would be humid air and the symphonic sounds of crickets. However, don't let the serenity of the atmosphere fool you: demons from the Fade were still working their demonic buttocks off, trying to find a way to step into the mortal realm, just to have a change of air and something solid to stand on.

There was one particular demon that was known as a 'desire' type: a sub-species of the demonic race, classified by the Chantry and the Circle of Magi. Like all desire demons, its usual form was a poor attempt to take on the humanoid female shape. With the usual violet flames for hair, overgrown horns, a tail, violet skin and long nails that were overdue for clipping; the Demon lurked through the fade, searching for some poor mortal sod, just waiting to be possessed.

For many centuries, the Demon didn't have any luck finding a suitable host. Most of the hosts the demon could find were mages. Nutty mages who were too obsessed with climbing atop the power ladder, to the dangerous point of being dull and boring. Their eagerness to slit their wrists in the name of magic didn't help either.

Recently, the demon had decided to try a different tact. Instead of stalking around the Tevinter Imperium, it decided to try and stalk around the country areas of the Free Marches. Who knew, maybe it would be pleasantly surprised!

And it was.

A small village called Gersbourne lay far, far away from the well-known city states like Starkhaven and Kirkwall. It was located somewhere in the Wildervale regions, almost isolated from the rest of Thedas. There was an occasional trading convoy stopping by the village, along with the Missionaries of the Chantry making a ritual visit to the place, sharing the usual lengthy verses with the dull-witted dwellers. However, the Templars rarely stopped by the village, mainly due to the town's chances of having a magic sensitive child were close to nil, plus they didn't want dirt on their shiny armour. It's probably best if we don't dwell on their state of minds, especially when there's a mage prodigy hiding in the mist of simpletons.

One mage prodigy in the whole village.

A young human girl, six at the time, was born to a farming family. A normal one, nothing special. No heroic heritage, no secret background like a father of royal blood and most importantly, there wasn't a single strand of magic within the bloodline of her family. They were just vegetable growers, but the father grew the best potatoes in the Free Marches. While the family's ordinary appearance baffled the demon, the little girl got its attention. Apart from being sensitive to magic, the girl herself seemed to be unfazed by being fully awake while in the Fade.

After watching her from the distance, the demon decided to show itself that one night when her bedtime came. The demon waited patiently, checking the long, sharpened and well-looked-after-nails, then the girl arrived in the Fade. As the child wandered curiously in the dreamscape, the demon appeared in front of her. Surprisingly, she was excepting the girl to scream in fright, but instead the she tilted her head and gave the demon a puzzled look.

"Are you cold? Mother has lots of robes. I could borrow one if you want." The girl asked.

The demon gave out a hearty laugh. "No, no. I'm fine. Beside, it's summer right? You don't want to wear lots of robes, do you little one?"

"Uh... no."

"Exactly. So... your name is Rose Mittlemark?"

"How did you know that?" Rose asked cautiously.

"I pick up things very quickly. I'm part of the Fade after all. Tell me, Rose. Do you know what magic is?"

"Magic is something that involves turning someone into a toad. Like the Witch of the Wilds."

The demon shook her head, "You're half right, except you can't turn someone into a toad. At least no mortals have done it yet. But they do summon flashy sparkles and light up the stove with the flick of a finger."

"Sparkles? Wow! I wish I had magic..."

"You do, little one. You wouldn't be standing here and talking to me if you didn't."

"So you mean... I can make sparkles and eat biscuits all the time? Neat! I'm going to tell everyone about it..."

The demon reached out to her to cover her mouth "Not so loud! Do you know what a Templar is? Or have you even seen one?"

"I saw a group of Templars once, outside of the village. They wear big clunky armour with funny skirts. Are they meanies?"

"Big meanies. Templars usually hunt people with magic down and if they know you have magic, they are going to take you away from your family and lock you up in some dark place. They'll beat you over the head with bad songs on how the Maker hates you and they steal biscuits from you."

Rose then began to shiver and widen her eyes in fear. "I'm scared... I've heard that the Templars are coming here tomorrow..."

"Don't be. Not while I'm here. I can make the bad Templars go away if you'll be my friend."

"Friend?"

"Of course, friends." The Demon reached its hand out towards her. "If you'll be my friend, not only will the Templars will go away, I'll teach you lots of nice things, like making lots of fire, snow and biscuits."

At first Rose was reluctant, since her parents had told her repeatedly to the point of beating a dead horse, that she should not talk to strangers. Especially demons, the worst kind of strangers. However, growing up in a household that wasn't really religious and had little knowledge of magic, she was unaware the dangers and actually didn't know what a demon was.

"But you're a stranger and mother told me not to trust strangers."

"But I have biscuits!" The Demon countered. It continued, "All sorts of biscuits like strawberry jams, honey favoured, exotic ones from beyond the Fade. And I do magic tricks like pulling a nug out of the hat... ah, crap. This isn't working."

The Demon frowned and started to slouched on a stool that just magically appeared. This is the Fade, where you can summon almost anything from your head. Except a ladder to the Black City. But no mage or spirits had figured that one out yet. While the Demon swished its tail in disappointment, Rose walked up to her.

"You don't have friends?"

"Nah. Everyone makes fun of me. They said _'Oh, look at that thing. It can't even make a fat mage say hello to it.'_Right, talk about the lack of friends."

Rose gave the Demon an apologetic look. She summoned a plate of cakes and scones in her hand and tried to offer one. The Demon gave her another surprised look.

"You made those?"

Rose nodded, "Mother didn't like me eating too much scones, biscuits and pastries. So I have to eat them here. This is the only place mother wouldn't come here and start yelling, _'no more biscuits!'_... but I like them, a lot."

For a while they talked over the plate of scones and cakes. What they talked about, you decide, I like your version of their conversation better anyway. After the Demon snatched the last piece of cake from the plate, Rose looked up to it and asked gently.

"Are you sad that you don't have friends?"

The Demon replied with a mouthful of cake, "Yes, I am a bit sad sometimes. But I'm used to that."

"Would you be happy if I'm your friend?"

It was all sudden for the Demon. It almost choked on that last bit of the cake. After it swallowed down, it gave a stunned look. "Are you craz- I mean, really?"

"Mother said I should make the world a better place by making people happy and father said it's nice to make friends, not enemies." Rose replied.

The Demon gave her a confused look. At first the child was resisting her and now she was quick to accept its offer? Usually the Demon had to fight through their resistance, but instead it was easier than usual. A little too easy, but the Demon had no complaints about it.

"Alright then. Let's be friends."

"Wait! What should I call you? I can't just call you 'Madame Bone-Tail' can I?" Rose asked.

The Demon paused for a while. Throughout time, most mages and mortals it encountered usually referred the Demon as 'demon', 'abomination' and 'her-hair-is-on-fire'. It decided to pick a nicer name for a change.

"You can call me... well, Solrinnel."

Then Rose reached out to hold Solrinnel's hand. A pact between them was formed. While Rose was Solrinnel's eyes to Thedas, Solrinnel warded off the pesky Templars with manipulation and exploiting the puppy eyes of a child. It was a good deal between them. Plus tea time was always nice.


End file.
